Top Gear

[Grahame]

Montage FTW.

Fuck Yeah!

or should that be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nobj204OK8

[catscratch]

2d episode starts off very strongly but then goes a bit downhill. Still very solid and worth watching. TG seems to be a bit more car-focused now and it's about time.

[NightWoundsTime]

Loved the Nascar bit. A few months ago I walked into the "saloon" next my friend's house on a Sunday afternoon. Nothing but shitty beer to be found but they had a special going. One raffle ticket per beer, one raffle ticket pulled per flag. Ended up staying till the end of the race cheering with the drunk toothless rednecks every time they'd go four wide through a corner.

[Edwood]

The 3rd Episode was OK.

Although the Movie Stunt thing was the funniest when they reviewed the 2nd to last edit of their footage.

[Grahame]

4th Episode was a good one if you are a fan of Bentley's , Ancient and Modern.

Any of Team Florida familiar with Desoto?

[NightWoundsTime]

I've passed it but haven't been to it, my uncle lives right down the road. Southern drag strips don't hold much fascination for me. The dirt track in Ruskin is an amazing spectacle, used to hear it from my house so I had to go check it out a few times.

Loved the semi-apology for the India special. Good to know they're not totally losing it. That whole "knowing you have a problem" thing.

Edited February 20, 2012 by NightWoundsTime

[Craig Sawyers]

Didn't realise that AC/DC's Brian Johnson is a Geordie. For those for whom this is jibberish, Geordie is a dialect from the North East of England, from an area maybe 30 miles square at the outside. It is where I come from, and after a few beers my accent is pretty much indistinguishable from Johnson's.

Yes - he comes from Dunston, and I'm originally from Ryton. They are separated by maybe five miles.

And just because I'm like James May, and an anal retentive at heart, Geordie is actually bastardised Scandinavian, from the dark ages invaders who came across the North Sea, and eventually settled.

[Torpedo]

So Birgir and you may be half brothers

[Craig Sawyers]

So Birgir and you may be half brothers

Now that is a scary thought - hoards with Birgir at the front wielding a battleaxe

[Edwood]

Good to see another pure cocking about sequence.

Richard's gasoline powered Half Track mobilty scooter was hilarious.

That and the Fisker was neat. Well, if you're rich that is. Pretty much what the Volt wanted to be, but couldn't. (although you could buy almost 3 Volts for the price)

[spritzer]

Now that is a scary thought - hoards with Birgir at the front wielding a battleaxe

Arghhhh!!!! As it happens I just spent an hour at work today discussing the only large scale battle ever to take place in Iceland with my cousin which was a large turning point in the collapse of the old republic.

[Grahame]

Meanwhile in the UK, El Reg reports Court rejects Tesla’s latest libel spat with Top Gear

Check out the comments section for

What a giant, giant muppet #

This ex-BBC ( now Daily Mail) Mr Titus is:

"My favourite thing about owning a Tesla is the opportunity for thought leadership. I’ve never owned a car that inspired people to photograph me with on the street. Women flirt with me at stoplights. Kids chase me and ask if it’s “the electric one that doesn’t need gas” [...] There are significant UK tax benefits, and a host of other government incentives, just for driving a great car!."

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/i-fell-love-tesla-roadster-very-one-driven-jeremy-clarkson

[catscratch]

I dunno. On one hand yes the libel claim was off the wall, but then again TG consistently shows anti-american and heavy-handed pro-british bias and has been known to fabricate test numbers and outright lie on a large percentage of their more factual claims (see their handling of the Hawk Stratos test). Obviously it's meant to be an entertainment show and obviously its attitude is meant to generate sales, but it rubs a lot of people the wrong way all the same, myself included. I also like the Tesla as a concept - it's an alternative energy car that isn't boring, and making exciting vehicles is what the industry needs to do.

So while I don't support Tesla in this, neither do I support the way TG runs its affairs - especially when it comes to North American distribution. But that's a totally different story...

3d episode was kinda "meh" I thought. Race sequence was fake and contrived, and I don't find things that are embarassing for the main characters funny. 4th episode was better, still some cocking about but a bit more genuine this time. And I liked the apology for the India special, and Brian Johnson is awesome. Beautiful Bentley too (the old one).

[Craig Sawyers]

I turned off the India special. Having visited India, and met its wonderful people, I found the TG Christmas treatment insulting, patronising and juvenile. The Indians are a people of great dignity and friendliness, operating in conditions of grinding poverty - 300 million of them live below the poverty line - defined as an equivalent of $75 per year. They deserve better than Top Gear dished out.

[Edwood]

Ever been to Mexico?

[mikeymad]

Time to get my Sunday Top Gear on....

[Grahame]

... Winnie The Pooh with Road Rage ...

[emelius]

in the standard 720P torrent...if you stop it at ~6 minutes 40 seconds...then let it go a few seconds...then stop it again at ~8 minutes 20 seconds...& let it go...it's the same bit of the track...the track they're supposed to be going around only once...maybe the car footage was lost or sucked & they had to fill the gap...

that's all well & good...but just seems that with these short races, they already know who's going to win & they just show clips of the other participants making a reasonable go while the victor (presumably) has buttered scones & tea...

i much prefer the longer races...where hilarity often ensues...

had to sit through the sob story, but I could've put it on mute for the Maserati...they're making some damn sexy cars...

[Wmcmanus]

I just saw this posted on Facebook by one of the Atom guys. Apparently, the Atom was on the show last night, and there's a new leader in town!

I don't follow Top Gear, but I presume this would be the American version of the show? I've Googled it and can't find anything. Just curious as to which iteration of the Atom this was? Did anyone see the show? Was is a standard Atom 3 or a 500 V8?

[HDen]

It's on the History Channel so it's the U.S. version

[mikeymad]

I watched it - all they said was 475hp version...

[Bigguy]

I have seen both versions of the Atom on the UK version of Top Gear. They really like the Atoms.

[Wmcmanus]

Ok, 475hp was probably the V8 Atom. They wanted to call it the "Atom 500" but it didn't end up putting that much power down at the wheel, so the official name became the V8 Atom.

i think i prefer the hand drawn times, over the printed ones.

I agree, that was kind of cool when they would tease you was to where to place the new time on the board.

[NightWoundsTime]

Those idiots can't write.

[Wmcmanus]

Those idiots can't write.

You mean the US version of Top Gear? They don't have British humor on their side either. Clarkson and company know how to act and deliver lines.